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Septic Shock

Just a quick update today. Unfortunately the past few days haven’t been the best for Mum – her liver function wasn’t improving as quickly as the doctors thought it would with the IV antibiotics and steroids she was on, so as a result she has been kept in hospital for monitoring and commenced on different antibiotics. Yesterday Mum unfortunately spiked a temperature again with full body aches and pains, so was sent for a CT and ultrasound, with her daily radiation dose cancelled – we’re currently still awaiting the results from these scans.

Unfortunately the day didn’t progress with much improvement, and overnight Mum had the medical team called by the nurses to review her as a result of a fever, rapid heart rate, and extremely low blood pressure of 60/35. Mum was immediately given IV fluids in an attempt to raise her blood pressure however this had no effect, and Mum, believed to be in a state of septic shock, was transferred to ICU to be commenced on a Noradrenaline infusion (all of this explained below).

Fast-forward to the following morning – I have just spoken to Mum and she’s feeling a lot better and is now maintaining her own blood pressure without any medication support. She’s due to be transferred back out to the ward today which is great news. It’s obvious she’s relatively back to her old self, as whilst I was on the phone to her she buzzed the poor nurse and hurried her up to check her blood sugar levels so she could eat her breakfast (steroid use can alter blood sugar levels, so a daily measurement needs to be taken whilst on them – before food).

I’ll keep you all updated on how Mum progresses over the next couple of days – hopefully she will be discharged from hospital soon and can get back to the comfort of her own home.

Alex

P.S Some incredibly random photos below, which Mum has sent through of her stay in ICU…..

Septic Shock – a serious medical condition that occurs when sepsis, which is organ injury or damage in response to infection, leads to dangerously low blood pressure and abnormalities. It is often categorised by it’s lack of response to rapid IV fluid administration, or “filling” (which in normal circumstances has the ability to raise a person’s blood pressure without the need for further active treatments).

Noradrenaline – a drug which, when given by infusion, has the ability to increase heart rate and constrict the blood vessels, which in short increases blood pressure. It is very useful for treating medicalemergencies such as septic shock that involve a critically low blood pressure.